I told you a few months ago about my report on my first stay at Hong Kong in 5 days. And as promised, I must complete this article by detailing the 2-day program, which was quite busy in terms of visits and deserves some details.
Here is one, which saw us exploring a little Lantau Island (where the new airport is located). On the program, see the temple where the Tian Tan large Buddha statue, then after, it's on to Tai O fishing village that we surrender.
The Great Buddha of Tian Tan
Standing at 26 m high (34 m if you count the 3-storey base), the imposing Tian Tan statue has changed the life of the Po Lin Monastery, located right next door. Completed in 1993, it took no less than 12 years to achieve this result. The peaceful monastery set in the middle of the forest has since become a must-see attraction.
Composed of 160 assembled bronze pieces, this large Buddha weighs no less than 250 tons. It faces due north, towards mainland China. Its model is based on a Buddha statue carved in stone at the Longmen Grottoes in northwest China.
To get there, we wanted to keep things simple, so we took the Tung Chung metro line (orange line) to its terminus, intending to then take the cable car. Unfortunately, it was during maintenance, so the cable car was out of the question…
So, we were a bit like idiots, not knowing where to go. Again, wanting to keep things simple, we finally took a taxi for the remaining journey (which was still 22 km... The irony is that in the end it was still cheaper than taking the cable car for two).
Alternatively, note that there is a bus from Tung Chung to Tian Tan for 20 HKD (approximately €2). In any case, the journey takes roughly half an hour.
We arrive directly at the foot of the stone gate indicating the entrance to the monastery complex, where the big Buddha is located. The advantage is that it is a weekday, so there are still fewer people than on the weekend.
Bronze statues line the path leading to the square at the foot of the Buddha. There are 12 of them, like the signs of the Chinese zodiac. Their role is to protect the place. As in absolute terms it must be "watched" 24 hours a day, and there are 24 of them, I'll let you do the math, each statue must protect the site 12 hours a day!
Another small surprise is that there are cows roaming around here without really knowing why, and they clearly cope very well with the tourists, who are numerous in these places.
After familiarizing ourselves with the place by observing the statue and its surroundings from below (on the Ngong Ping Piazza, a sort of post to selfie observation), we decided to start climbing the 268 steps to take a closer look.
At the foot of this giant, one can feel the fervor of the locals who come to meditate there. Around it, one can see 6 statues of Deva (divinities) who offer flowers, incense, a lamp, ointment, fruits and music, each representing the six perfections for Buddhism, necessary to reach enlightenment: patience, meditation, generosity, morality, diligence and wisdom.
Beyond seeing the statue up close, you will have a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and the Po Lin Monastery and all the way to Tong Wan Bay to the south (behind the statue). Once done, we went back down to take a look at the temple.
Po Lin Monastery
Originally founded in 1906 by 3 monks from western mainland China, what was initially just a simple building for a place of prayer really developed from the 20s onwards. It was in 1924 that the monastery acquired its current name (which means "precious lotus", an important symbol in Buddhism).
In the courtyard, quite a few people were carrying around incense to pray. After passing through the stone door, we found ourselves facing the great hall.
The large main hall contains 3 golden Buddha statues as well as many paintings where red predominates. As I could not take pictures inside, I also felt a certain weariness that day to see temples, which is why I did not even bother to take a look and my thoughts were rather turned towards the continuation of our program, joining the village of Tai O.
Which we did shortly after, just long enough to finish our visit, looking at the shimmering colours of the roofs, admiring some sculptures on the exterior walls, taking a look at the Tian Tan Buddha, then finally exiting through a different door, just to see another area.
To tell the truth, beyond this certain weariness, we were also a bit "in a hurry", because we had checked the bus timetable for Tai O before leaving, posted near the entrance and there is only one every hour on weekdays.
While waiting for bus 21, since there were a few minutes left, we quickly went through the "village" of Nong Ping, which normally serves as the "arrival base" for the cable car and which is mainly a collection of souvenir shops and not a real village.
If you have the time and the desire to walk, you can always follow the "Wisdom Path", the path of wisdom, which gravitates around the Po Lin monastery starting from the end of the Ngong Ping village.
Travel back in time to the fishing village of Tai O
The bus dropped us off in the car park next to the village, with the sea right in front of us. Great, a bit of sea air! We went into the small main street of Tai O. As it was a weekday, it was rather quiet, but the merchants were still open and their stalls were full of dried fish for many.
Originally, we had planned to take a boat tour to have a different view than on foot, but between the tight budget and the timing especially, we preferred to skip it. But when you arrive, you will surely be offered to take you.
After just 100 m, we arrived at the level of the lifting bridge, which connects the main part of the village to another, located on what is technically an island, since a canal crosses the village on both sides (and separates it into 3 zones in total) and that it joins the sea at these 2 ends.
I say "time travel" because before it developed, Hong Kong was essentially a land full of villages where people lived mainly from fishing.
However, this is still the case in Tai O. And the houses contrast particularly with the rest of Hong Kong. If along the main artery, you don't pay too much attention, you quickly notice that the houses here have a very unique style.
It was after passing the small covered market of Tai O that we came across these houses on stilts with a rather rustic appearance. Indeed, the walls are made of metal plates, some of which are well damaged by rust (on the seaside, you bet).
Some houses are solid, but sometimes they still contrast with the place, like this house, which we would call a townhouse in Thailand, a sort of "building house" since everything is high up.
Some trees are in bloom and add to the charm of the moment. We come across quite a few cats in the area, with all the fish that must be lying around it must be paradise for them. We first went along the bay, it was low tide so we could admire the muddy bottom of the area, no wonder we come across mangroves there.
Further on, we came across a manufacturer of "shrimp paste" also known and widely used in Thailand, it is a paste made from shrimp that they use as an ingredient in curry pastes (not "noodle" paste eh).
300 m later, we arrived at a quay and the end of this promenade along the bay. Here is a mini beach (not usable) and a hotel. This one is a vestige of the past precisely since it was previously a ... police station.
One might wonder what a police station was doing so far from the centre, even more so at the time of its construction in 1902. The fact is that its role was to fight against piracy and smuggling, which were very present in this area at the time and the British Empire had put the resources into it!
At its peak in 1983, the station had no fewer than 180 officers assigned here. However, its usefulness would be diminished just 13 years later, as by 1996 it had been relegated to a mere patrol post as the crime rate around Tai O had dropped drastically. And a year later, Hong Kong was returned to China.
It was in 2012 that it was finally renovated and transformed into a hotel. Quite luxurious, I would say, and with a sea view, not too bad, but you have to like being isolated because then, apart from Tai O, there is nothing nearby.
Then we turned around. That's when the sun decided to show its name. And there's no denying it, it completely changed the atmosphere which had a very sad side with the gray sky.
If on the way there 500 m from the hotel we had seen a crossroads, since we saw signs indicating different "attractions", we had decided at the time to continue on what seemed to be the main path.
This time, we went to another junction. We then arrived in a courtyard with a small Chinese temple on the right and straight ahead some steps leading to a cultural center centered on the Shaolin monks. If we looked carefully, just at the foot of the steps, we saw a path that went into nature.
As I had read that there was a viewpoint, and especially because it indicated the possibility of observing dolphins there, I was curious to go and see what it looked like and we immediately set off on the path. We then came across a few tombs shortly after. Indeed, there is a Chinese cemetery on the entire side of the small mountain forming the island where we are.
The view then becomes interesting as we also start to climb. We come across a statue representing dolphins. A part of me then thought "ah, that's just what their dolphins are...".
We continued walking along the path that allows you to see Tai O Bay on one side, and the works on the highway linking Hong Kong to Macao, which start from the airport.
I then began, without much hope, to observe the sea in order to see dolphins, in this case Pacific humpback dolphins, and even more precisely here Chinese white dolphins. I then saw boats traveling below.
Deducing that these are probably boats precisely for going to observe the cetaceans, I keep my eyes riveted around them and…. BINGO!
I then see a hump and then a tail while one of the dolphins was just taking a breath. I then rush to take my camera and zoom in as much as possible hoping to capture the moment, and by the way, given the distance, it also acted as a "binocular" for me.
And there, big stroke of luck, I managed to get a picture! Satisfied, I told myself that it's good, we can go home now! What I didn't know is that we could have continued on this same path to make a complete loop around Tai O, in dark blue on the map that I have concocted for you below:
But in the end we just went back the way we came (in orange on the map) to get back to where we had arrived (the yellow path).
If we arrived at 14:30 p.m. at the parking lot, by the time we had done this little tour, it was 17 p.m. and the sun was still there, with a beautiful late afternoon light.
Return and meeting in Hong Kong
To get back, we took the bus option to Mui Wo wharf from where we took the ferry back to the main island. The port is next to the Hong Kong Ferris wheel and there is a good view of Hong Kong at night. Back in our neighborhood and after a little rest, we had an appointment at a subway exit to meet an acquaintance in Jitima, who goes back to when she lived in Australia.
It had been more than 10 years since they had seen each other. His friend took us to a restaurant a little hidden, in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. It is in the Carnarvon plaza, only 250 m from the A2 exit of Tsim Sha Tsui, only if you enter the mall, you can look, you will not find…
Because actually, there is an elevator right at the entrance level, next to the sidewalk. And it is by taking this elevator to the 5th (the last floor of this particular elevator) that you will arrive at the restaurant, the Mui Kee cookfood stall (there are 3 branches in Hong Kong, 2 of which are quite close to each other).
It's a restaurant that seems quite popular, especially for going to have a bite to eat after a hard day's work, to relax, because the atmosphere is rather relaxed.
I tasted a Chinese beer, my goodness, the Harbin, which we tasted here in a bowl and not a glass. In terms of meals, Chinese cuisine is not what I prefer, so I had a hard time choosing, especially since there were a lot of seafood dishes (which I don't eat...). I finally ordered a beef dish and it was very good. So much so that when we returned to Hong Kong only 2 months later (coincidence of the calendar), we tried to go back (and luckily I have a good sense of direction!).
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And after this good meal and a little digestive walk, it was time to say goodbye. We returned to our neighborhood, still as lively at this time of the evening (around 22:30 p.m., knowing that it starts to calm down only after midnight) and that closed this day on Lantau Island.
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